Paul Momirovski has become NRL’s unwanted man amid historic trade
Paul Momirovski, the game’s unwanted man, has cleaned out his locker and packed his bag more than once. Now he has spoken about the torment of his on again off again swap with the Storm.
Tigers
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Paul Momirovski cleaned out his locker at the Tigers’ Concord base thinking his time at the club was over.
He has packed his suitcase more than once and held farewell parties, only to be told at the last minute his impending swap with Harry Grant to Melbourne was off.
Momirovski has become the unwanted face of the landmark trade deal which for weeks has left him uncertain about his immediate playing future.
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“I’ve had my bags packed and I’ve unpacked them,” Momirovski said. “There was a period there where I was just living out of my suitcase. I cleaned my locker out. I’ve had to bring everything back.
“When I knew it wasn’t happening that day, I just brought in a pair of boots instead of bringing everything. It’s been an interesting period and adjusting to the team and how much I train with the team and how much I don’t.”
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Before the trade was mooted, Momirovski had only met Grant once or twice before. But the pair have become close, exchanging constant text messages. Momirovski was due to move into Grant’s Melbourne apartment.
“It’s been good to relay the information we’re hearing to each other,” Momirovski said. “Not so much to see if it lines up but just to see if he knows anything more than I do. If we have anything we can help each other with, we’ve been going through it.”
The toughest aspect for Momirovski has been the unknown. He stresses he is happy at the club he joined last year from the Roosters but believes an opportunity to play regular first grade in Melbourne is too big a chance to pass up.
“It’s not an opportunity you want to turn down in it being one of the first of its kind and the opportunity to go to Melbourne,” Momirovski said. “Everyone knows it’s a highly respected system and everyone is a better footballer for being down there. That’s in the back of your mind when something like this happens.
“If you strip it all back, we both just want to play first grade. I am really happy at the Tigers. I’m enjoying my time here. If this is an opportunity for one year, then that’s what it is.”
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Momirovski, who is off contract at the end of the season, only learnt the mooted deal was back on the table when he read online reports this week. A knee injury to Moses Mbye has paved the way for a potential round-one start but Momirovski is just craving certainty one way or another.
“A final resolution would be nice,” he said. “The hardest thing was not really belonging to a team during that period. You’re not training with the team because you’re expected to leave but you’re not with the team you’re supposed to be leaving too. That’s a weird situation.
“Harry and I are lucky it’s purely about football. We don’t have kids or dependants. If this is going to happen often there need to be parameters because blokes who have families might have a lease which needs to be nutted out.”